On Saturday, May 9, 2026, during the LIBREX Book Fair in Iasi, took place the launch of the book „Behold, I have told you! - Preocupări de pedagogie pastorală comparată”, signed by Fr. prof. univ. dr. habil. Constantin Valer Necula, professor at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology „Andrei Saguna” in Sibiu.
The event was held at the Casa Cărții in Iasi, in the Art Galleries, and gathered readers, students, teachers and people close to the work of Father Constantin Necula, in a warm atmosphere, as are usually meetings around his books.
Father Ciprian Blaga, counselor of the Cultural Sector of the Archdiocese of Suceava and Rădăuților, Mrs. Daniela Ceredeev, inspector and Father Ștefănel-Stelian Ciurciun, director of the Publishing and Typography Department, spoke about the book. The interventions emphasized the topicality of the themes addressed by the author and the need for a pastorate that responds to the concrete man, in an increasingly fragmented and hurried world.
The launch took place on the eve of the Sunday of the Samaritan woman, and this closeness gave the event a special significance. Like the dialog between Christ and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, this book is also built around the idea of encounter and inner search. Fr. Constantin Necula does not propose rigid answers or ready-made pastoral formulas, but invites the reader to reflection, sincerity and inner repositioning.
One of the central ideas of the book is that pastoral ministry cannot be reduced to administration or the management of external activities. The author speaks of the danger of an „office pastorate”, in which the priest risks becoming merely an administrator of holy things, losing touch with the person and his thirst for meaning. On the other hand, the book proposes a return to the deeply vocational dimension of ministry, to the priest who once again becomes a teacher of faith and a real companion of the community.
The book also impresses with the way it manages to combine theological rigor with accessible and vivid language. The numerous metaphors and images used by the author transform the reading into a continuous dialog with the reader. The parish is described as „an embassy of the kingdom of heaven on earth” and baptism as the beginning of a lifelong journey of formation. These are images that stay in the mind and give the book a strong pedagogical dimension.
In essence, „Behold, I Have Told You!” is a book about authenticity, about the relationship between the Church and contemporary man and about the need for a ministry that goes beyond efficiency, statistics and appearances. It is an invitation to depth, to dialog and to the rediscovery of a living pastorate, capable of responding to the true questions of the soul.
The book launch was part of the program of the 31st edition of LIBREX Book Fair - „Books Spring in Iasi”, one of the most important cultural events dedicated to books in Romania.
The book can be purchased on the Crimca Publishing House website.
Priest Dr. Ștefănel-Stelian Ciurciun,
Director of the Publishing and Printing Department
